GPS Driving Naviagational Systems in Europe
 

Hi everyone,

I just love my portable navigational system that I purchased and use in my car here in America. A nice, calm lady guides me to my destinations, without the stress I used to feel when traveling in unknown areas.

Are these devices as popular in Europe? Just wondering.

Oh yes! We had one on a trip a few years ago that kept telling us "Make An Illegal U-Turn Now!" and directed us to the middle of a cornfield.

We had a NeverLost in our hertz rental last summer and would now never rent without one...at least in Italy! I don't know how we would have found our way out of Florence or thru the tuscan countryside without it. We loved the calm british voice and she certainly saved some marital strife!

We took our GPS to Germany & Switzerland last year, and found it invaluable. It was so much better and less stressful for my wife not having to be glued to a map and getting lost because we missed the turn.

Going again to Switzerland/Italy, and I won't leave home without it. ((b))

I'm taking mine to the UK next week and to France in July but I also take back-up maps. I find the GPS is very helpful but unlike St. Cirq's, mine only advises me to make <b>legal</b> U-turns!

StCirq must be driving in Amsterdam:)

I think those things can help, but they do need human override. We were trying to use one last Wednesday in Augusta Georgia to get around traffic backups. The silly thing kept sending us back the way we had come for a very circuitous re-routing.

Like all equipment based on computer logic, they know no judgment.

Other than that, we were successful using it to find our way from one office complex to another without having to use the cell phone constantly be guided with oral instructions.

For Europe, a good place to see where one is valuable is to try driving around in Munich or other large city.

Hello dfo:

I feel the same as cmeyer. I had a built-in GPS in an Avis rental in Germany last Fall. I had my Garmin portable with me and did a side-by-side. I ended up preferring the built-in and now would not rent without one for all the reasons mentioned here. It keeps the navigator's head out of the cockpit and able to enjoy the scenery. Gradyghost

I might add that like a lot of other current gadgetry they can be very labor-intensive upfront in terms of learning how to use their many features <b>properly</b>.

There has been a few disasters in Britain from the satnav system including recently a woman who followed instructions and ended up being swept away in her &pound;96,000 Mercedes in a swollen river. Such systems are handy but should not replace the use of a brain.

Just used the Hertz Neverlost device here in France and I will never again rent a car in Europe without it. The first screen lets you choose English and programming is a breeze as long as you know the first few letters of an address. Well worth the 11 euros/day.

If you are traveling with a laptop, consider the possibility of acquiring Microsoft AutoRoute with GPS locator instead of buying the rental agency's unit for them. With your PC, it's all you need.

One advantage to this alternative is that you can pre-plan all your routes and practice with the software before you leave home.

microsoft.com/autoroute

And how much does a GPS device you need to go with it going to cost, Robes?

It's included, Dukey-poo - as in <b>with GPS locator</b>, above. You can find brand new packages on eBay for less than $100.

Thanks for clarifying that and am sure other will appreciate the information.

Do you have to buy a laptop? ((b))

No. You can also

rent
borrow
steal

one. But since I began this digression with &quot;if you are travelling with a laptop,&quot; I assume the reader has that aspect covered.

OK, I am certainly not against using a laptop-based GPS but how convenient is it to use in a car?

Seven.

My statement was rhetorical. :-)

It would be pretty tuff driving by oneself, keeping eyes on the road, and looking down at a laptop. :-)

Besides, I don't think I could talk my wife into holding a laptop while I was driving. I think she would much prefer a map, but on second thought, she likes our windshield mounted Garmin. :-) ((b))

Seven???????

Budman,

As you know all those GPS companies tell you NOT to look at the screen and the Hertz &quot;NeverLost&quot; which is simply a magellan has a warning sign on every unit saying the same thing.

But IMO it is hard NOT to look at the screens no matter where they are positioned.

Robes,

Aren't you in Germany right now?

What the Hell are you doing fooling around on the computer when you could be out enjoying the nightlife?

Please don't tell me that hotel you got is THAT far out of the action!

Those are just the legal warnings to prevent law suits. My wife does tell me all the time &quot;don't look at it -- look at the road.&quot; ((b))

Yes, I understand the warnings are to prevent liability and I also understand that watching the screen instead of watching the road can cause &quot;unfortunate events&quot; so I tend to agree with, and also ignore, those warnings.

Nope. Got back on the 29th.

The Sofitel Venusberg is 16 minutes from the Hauptbahnhof via one of several buses that come by every ten minutes. The bus stop is a three-minute walk through a charming wood. tinyurl.com/yotv8n

Actually if you buy any of the Garmin GPS systems you are entitled to a free DVD version of Mapquest which will allow you to preplan your route from the comfort of your home computer. I've got my entire December vacation mapped out already. I've been able to schedule my driving times so that we're in the car no longer than 4 hours on any given day. What I also like is that after I pinpoint my reserved hotel/pension/gasthof on Mapquest, I can also determine nearby restaurants and points of interest (POI) in that particular little hamlet.

We are greatly entertained by our GPS mispronouncing many of the street names when we're in Europe. They enunciate the street names phoentically so you CAN dicpher where they are directing you. But if you switch the voice mode to the local language, they suddenly pronounce streets and cities properly but you can't understand anything else they say.

Yes, every GPS system includes those features. As you can see from the AutoRoute site, 740,000 restaurants and POIs are indexed.

But I have never seen much sense in buying another piece of gear (in the form of a dedicated GPS) when I already own hardware that will do the job.

Plus, you can plug the locator into a Pocket PC and have a handheld GPS for navigating on foot.

I'm not gonna rehash the same old argument, but what the heck...

I'd rather lug around a little device the size of an Ipod than a big old laptop that has to sit on somebody's lap when driving. But to each his own I guess.

Yes, that's why I mentioned the Pocket PC configuration. The dedicated GPS has the disadvantage of being unable to display maps that are 9-17&quot; across.

Even an iPOS is an additional piece of gear to lug, and I still don't get it.

By the way, the &quot;big old laptop&quot; I use is smaller than a 3-ring binder and weighs under 2 kg. It seems to me that the vast majority of objections to Pocket PCs and laptops are based on lack of information.

Robespierre, I want you to put that laptop of yours UP on the dashboard and get it to stay there like one of our &quot;big ole&quot; GPS systems and then come back and tell me this is as &quot;convenient.&quot;

Robes - I consider you my guru on things technical at Fodors and I normally respect and follow your advice, but I just can't see your way on this. Having something I can slip into my pocket in an area where car break-ins are a problem, having a device that has a battery that lasts hours if I utilize it while walking through Paris, not having to have the wife hold a laptop/tablet/or whatever on her lap just makes more practical sense to me. I see your point about the cost of making your computer a GPS device being cheaper than buying a GPS unit, but printing out a bunch of maps from my desktop PC is even cheaper than that. I love my Nuvi because of its portability and variety of functions including the MP3 player, translator and ability to store photos.

But then again, some people will disagree with both of us and argue that a big old Michelin roadmap is easier to use than our suggestions.

I prefer to rely on my spidey senses to get me where I am going :)

My husband and I were talking about GPS navigation versus maps the other day - my inlaws went to Germany and raved about the GPS. We decided that our last trip wouldn't have been nearly as fun with the GPS. We made a few wrong turns, but what the hay, we were on vacation and all that meant was that we saw more stuff.

But then we are both map studiers by nature and don't mind getting lost.

You can always turn off the GPS and wander. But there's no substitute for one if you don't <u>want</u> to be lost - or need to find your hotel at midnight in the rain.

And with my portable Garmin, I installed &quot;documents to go&quot; which allows me to load Word documents (e.g., Restaurant, sightseeing etc, stuff) that some wish to lug with them in hardcopy. Gradyghost

Will let you know how our new Tom Tom 910 works. Taking it with us to France next week.

Just wanted people to know that I just got back from my latest trip to England, but my first trip with a naviagational system. I bought the Garmin c330 system about a year ago on the recommendation of a colleague. I absolutely LOVE it over here (America/Kentucky), but I wasn't certain if it worked in England.

I contacted my manufacturer, Garmin, and I was told that I could purchase a small chip (for lack of a better word) that has pre-loaded maps of Great Britain. It cost $180 for the chip, which was an investment, since the whole GPS system only cost $350.

Well, to make a long story, short, it worked! We drove straight to a friend's house in Swindon; then off to Exeter, and finally, the wonderful little Cornish village of Fowey (prounounced &quot;Foy&quot;). The navigational system made the trip MUCH more enjoyable, and MUCH less stressful. It was so nice having &quot;lady&quot; in my GPS unit give us turn by turn directions, particularly through those roundabouts that the English take for granted, but which frighten us Americans.

Just thought I'd share this information for anyone who is interested or considering taking a portable GPS system to England.

Happy travels! Dfotravels